Page 46 of Twin Threats In Austin
A question struck him. Why would someone hold a grudge against a twin they’d never met? Was this a convenient way to blame someone else for their crimes? Or could that person want revenge for a perceived slight?
Twisted minds worked in ways Camden might never understand. But they had a name now. Asher fit the profile of the kind of person who would kidnap, torture, and murder women. They needed to find the abducted women while they were still alive.
Rochelle mentioned becoming a target because they were getting closer to the killer. Would that drive him to do away with his victims?
“Change of topic?” Rochelle asked, cutting into thoughts that were already turning into a hamster wheel.
“Yes, please,” he said. Overthinking never provided the answer he was looking for. Distraction had a way of clearing the way.
“Fair warning, this is personal,” she said.
“Oh?”
“I accidentally saw a phone call had come through on your phone from your brother,” Rochelle said. “Is that one of the texts you excused yourself to send before?”
“No, I wanted to check up on Asher Foley,” he said. “My brother asked me to call because he’s considering a meeting with our mother and wanted to know how I felt about joining.”
“What did you say?” Rochelle asked without hesitation. He liked that she felt comfortable enough with him to ask personal questions and get him talking about subjects that were normally off-limits.
“That I’m not interested.”
“You aren’t?”
“Should I be?” he asked.
“It’s probably just me, but I would be so curious about her,” she admitted. “You reach a point in life when you want to know more about what made you who you are. Plus, I can’t imagine not knowing my parents.”
“Because they didn’t abandon you at the ripe old age of seven,” he stated.
“True,” she said, biting down on her bottom lip as he pulled into his town-house complex. “Still. I think I’d have even more questions if I didn’t know them.”
“Even if it was her choice to leave?”
“Especially if that were the case,” she said. “Aren’t you curious as to why she did what she did?”
“A little,” he said. “Not enough to want a face-to-face.”
“What’s the worst that could happen?” She leaned her elbow on the console as he pulled into his garage.
“I hadn’t really thought about it in those terms,” he admitted as he cut off the engine and closed the garage door behind them.
“She’s the one who wants the meeting, right?”
“I assume so,” he said. “It sure as hell isn’t me.”
“Which means you can set the terms,” she said. “If you don’t like what you’re hearing in the first few minutes of the conversation, you can get up and walk out.”
Why did the thought of seeing his mother reduce him to that kid who’d cried himself to sleep every night after she disappeared?
“What if she’s a disappointment?” he asked.
“At least you’d know,” she reasoned. “This way, you must have lingering questions about her even if you are able to shove them aside most of the time.”
He could admit that was true as he exited his side and then rounded the front to open her door for her. She thanked him andthen followed him into his town house. His cell buzzed again. He checked the screen. His truck would be dropped off out front in visitor parking in a matter of minutes. Good timing.
“Everything okay?” she asked as she followed him into the kitchen.
Having Rochelle in his home almost convinced him everything would be.
